In many application areas, bulk materials are loaded, for transportation purposes, from storage silos into corresponding filling containers on transporting vehicles, e.g. on lorries or railway wagons. In this arrangement, a loading tube is usually introduced into the filling container, from above, through an introduction opening. The loading tube is then charged with the respective bulk materials either by means of the static pressure of the bulk materials, which in this case prevails in a silo above the loading tube, or via a pneumatic conveying device.
As loading tube, use is often made of a so-called loading telescope, in the case of which at least two tubes can be pushed telescopically one into the other. Such a loading telescope may be varied in length, which is advantageous, in particular, when introducing such a loading tube into the introduction opening of a filling container.
If, then, bulk materials are conveyed into a filling container via an open tube, said bulk materials, due to internal friction, are not distributed horizontally into the container, as would be the case for a liquid. Rather, a conical loose fill with a so-called slope angle is usually formed. In this arrangement, the tube remains full at the end and empties only when it is pulled upwards.
The distribution of the bulk materials with the abovementioned slope angle results in the disadvantage that the filling container cannot be filled to the full extent. This is undesirable, in particular when the maximum transporting load of the transporting vehicle has not yet been utilized by the quantity of bulk materials introduced into it. Due to the cavities which remain, after the filling operation, in the upper corner or border regions of the filling container, a considerable fraction of the transporting capacity is left unutilized.
In order to provide an overflow-prevention means in the case of an apparatus as is described above, a so-called full-level indicator has been fitted, in known apparatuses, beneath the tube opening and protected with a cone roof. By virtue of such a protective roof, the bulk-material stream is deflected to the side to a certain extent as a secondary effect. However, in this arrangement too, the bulk-material stream does not reach the filling-container outer regions which are further away from the loading tube. Just as before, a conical loose fill is formed, the corresponding angle being slightly smaller than the slope angle without a static distribution cone formed by the protective roof.
In the case of filling which is carried out exclusively due to the static pressure of the bulk materials, filling without a slope angle can generally not be achieved by means of a static distribution cone since the outer regions of the filling container lie at such a transverse distance away from the filling tube that bulk materials accelerated vertically only due to gravity do not experience sufficient transverse acceleration as a result of the deflection on such a distribution cone.
For this reason, further developments in which a distribution cone has been arranged in a rotating manner have been disclosed. Due to the resulting centrifugal forces, the necessary transverse acceleration could be achieved, which made possible a loose fill with better utilization of space.
Although a largely horizontal distribution of the bulk materials is achieved using such a centrifugal wheel, this often resulted in damage to the product to be loaded as bulk material. In addition, it was necessary, in this arrangement, to fit rotating parts with a corresponding drive into the bulk-material stream. In order to ensure problem-free operation here as regards the mounting of the rotating distribution cone, in particular also as regards a long service life, additional, high-outlay protective measures for the corresponding components are necessary.
Furthermore, loading apparatuses in which a curved baffle has been fitted, as distributor, beneath the tube opening of the loading tube have been disclosed. However, such baffles can only produce a sufficient transverse flow of the bulk materials when a high-performance pneumatic conveying installation is used, with the result that the flow speed moves between 15-35 m/sec. Such a baffle is not suitable for conveying without such a pneumatic conveying device, the baffle, in this case, acting only as an obstruction to flow.